Munchkin has a few other choice words that escape us right now, but it’s really the phrases he comes up with – oftentimes apropos of nothing – that give us the biggest belly laughs. Here are a few recent favorites:

“Oh my goodness! It’s много bumpy,” he exclaimed as we jostled along the rutted street that leads to our house, “Turn off the bumpies!” The streets in our neighborhood were of questionable quality when we moved in, but now it feels like we are driving on a moonscape. It’s particularly muddy on the street where Munchkin’s schoolmate, who carpools with us, lives. “It’s muddy,” the Munch announces matter-of-factly each morning. “Muddy, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche,” he intones – a flawless transition to the days of the week he apparently just learned in French class without capturing the meaning of what he was taught.

“Thank you for covering my пузо (belly),” he told D a couple of days ago while getting dressed for school, adding, “I appreciate that.” He has quite a few polite phrases up his sleeve, which he tends to bust out at the most unexpected of times. “You scared me, papa” – delivered midway through a game where D would hide around the corner and then catch and twirl Munchkin as he ran around the house. “You scared me, papa – That’s not very nice at all.”

Last, but not least: “Hi Kate,” which is how Munchkin now says the word “hockey” whenever he spots D watching hockey highlights. “There’s Kate,” he’ll add, pointing to one of the players. Kate, our nanny, could never be mistaken for a hockey player, but that’s besides the point. The other day, D said, “Go Pens!” to see if Munchkin remembered the cheer he picked up during last season’s hockey playoffs. “Go Pens! Go Pens!” Munchkin chanted, before abruptly switching the chant to “No pants! No pants!” and running off.